Usman
Nurmagomedov
looks like he intends to keep the
Bellator
MMA lightweight division on lockdown for the foreseeable
future.
The undefeated
American Kickboxing Academy export will put his 155-pound
championship on the line against
Brent
Primus in the
Bellator 300 headliner on Saturday at Pechanga Arena in San
Diego. Nurmagomedov has compiled a 6-0 record in the
Scott
Coker-led organization, improving to a perfect 17-0 overall. He
last competed at Bellator 292, where he sent former
Ultimate Fighting Championship and
World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder
Benson
Henderson into retirement with a first-round rear-naked choke
on March 10. Primus, meanwhile, has won four of his past six
fights. He last appeared on May 12, when he took a unanimous
decision from
Mansour
Barnaoui at Bellator 296.
As Nurmagomedov and Primus move ever closer to their forthcoming
clash, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to
this point:
25: Years of age for Nurmagomedov, who was born on April 17, 1998
in Kizilyurt, Russia.
8: Nurmagomedov wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting
for 47% of his career total (17).
Luis Muro,
Svyatoslav
Shabanov and
Jerry
Kvarnstrom highlight his list of victims. Nurmagomedov holds
six other wins by submission (35%) and three more by decision
(18%).
323: Days spent by Nurmagomedov as Bellator lightweight champion.
He captured the 155-pound title with a five-round unanimous
decision over
Patricky
Freire at Bellator 288 on Nov. 18, 2022.
5: Countries in which Nurmagomedov has plied his mixed martial arts
trade. He has gone 8-0 in his native Russia, 5-0 in the United
States, 2-0 in the United Arab Emirates, 1-0 in Saudi Arabia and
1-0 in Kazakhstan.
99: Combined victories between the six men—Henderson, Muro, Freire,
Christopher
Gonzalez,
Patrik
Pietila and
Mike
Hamel—Nurmagomedov has beaten as a member of the Bellator
roster. They sport a cumulative .656 winning percentage at
99-52.
38: Years of age for Primus, who was born in Eugene, Oregon on
April 12, 1985.
6: Primus victories by submission, accounting for 50% of his career
total (12). His methods of choice: four rear-naked chokes, one neck
crank and one gogoplata. Primus owns two other victories by
knockout or technical knockout (17%) and four more by decision
(33%).
65: Seconds needed for Primus to put away
Chris
Ensley with a rear-naked choke at a Brass Knuckle Promotions
show on Sept. 24, 2010. More than 13 years later, it remains his
fastest finish to date.
32: Rounds completed by Primus as a professional mixed martial
artist. He has gone the distance on six different occasions and
carries a 4-2 record in those bouts.
.825: Cumulative winning percentage between the three
opponents—
Alexandr
Shabliy,
Islam
Mamedov and
Michael
Chandler—who have defeated Primus. They boast a combined record
of 68-14-1.